Railway.



No. 070,089. ,l PATENTED Nov. 5, 1907.v M. su?. 0. vLLL-10 RAILWAY.

APPLICATION FILED AUG.23, 1907. y

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PATENT oEEIoE.

MARK ST. CLAIR ELLIS, OF

RAILWAY.

Specification of Letters Patent.

THE UNITED STATES NAVY.

Patented Nov. 5, 1907.

Application filed August 23, 1907. Serial No. 389.760.

To all whom it may concern:

Be it known that I, MARK ST. CLAIR ELLIS, lieutenant, United States Navy, a citizen of the United States, and a resident of Philadelphia, county of Philadelphia, and State of Pennsylvania, have invented certain new and useful Improvements in Railways, of which the following is a specification.

The principal object of the present invention is to provide an absolutely safe. comparatively inexpensive, sightly and pleasant railway 'for the conveyance of passengerseither as a means for transportation from place to place, or as a means for affording them amusenrent and exhilaration. Other objects of the invention will appear' from the following description at the close of which the invention will be claimed.

In the accompanying drawings, Figure l, is a transverse sectional view illustrating a railway embodying features of the invention. Fig. 2. isa side view partly in section of the same, and Figs. 3, 4, and 5, are respectively a plan, elevation and cross section drawn to a smaller scale and illustrating one type of structure embodying a railway of Iny invention.

In the drawings l., is a mono-rail having at its top an upwardly projecting flange face. or run-way 2, and at its opposite sides laterally projecting faces, flanges or runways 3 and 4. The form in cross section of the monorail is generally that of an inverted T, and the inverted head of the T is secured or attached, as by means of a suitable bracket, upon the top of supports 5. which conveniently take the form of posts or upright lattice girders. If desired, flanges or braces as 6, consisting of angle irons and plates. may be arranged at intervals upon the opposite sides of the mono-rail.

The cars 7. are provided with flanged or grooved rollers or wheels, which respectively run upon the rails or bearing faces of the mono-rail. As shown the cars are carried by yokes 8, which straddle the mono-rail and which are provided with bearings for the flanged or grooved rollers 9, I0 and ll.

l2, are flanges or guards which project inwardly from the yokes or from the car and underlie the base of the mono-rail; o1' perhaps more accurately. the flanges or faces 3, and 4; their purpose is to preclude all possibility of the derailment of the car, although the described flanged or grooved rollers running on flanges or faces arranged in the manner described, that is to say, in cross section at the apices of a triangle are in themselves well adapted to prevent derail ment ofthe car.

The car is provided upon opposite sides of the monorail with seats I3, for passengers and these seats are arranged in respect to the rest of the structure in such a way as to fix the center' of gravity of the load below the top rail. This not only insures safety but also permits the car to automaticllay adjust itself as soon as it has acquired momentum and it will run properly on the del scribed structure, even though unevenly loaded. The arrangement of the passenger seats is such that the pas sengers on opposite sides may see andconverse with each other across the top of the mono-rail and this adds to the attractiveness of the railway. As shown the frame I4 of the car is connected with the yokes and serves as a guard for the passengers in respect to the mono-rail and also as a support for the seats, and the frame is also provided with suitable guard rails or the like 25. portions of which may be movable so as to afford the passengers ingress and egress.

A description will be given of one way in which the line of the railway may be advantageously arranged in lconnection with a pier which extends out over the sea or other body of water'. The mono-rail is arranged with a loop l5 at each end and the pier or boardwalk I6, may be arranged between the parallel portions of the monorail and communicate with platforms or pavilions I7 and I8 at the shore and sea ends of the structure. Ilre loops may be arranged upon substantially the same level as the platforms or pavilions, so that tlre passengers can be permitted to alight at each end, if they so desire. Intermediate of the loops the monorail may ascend and descend so las to afford pleasure, excitement and exhilaration for the passengers. On the outbound track as at I9, means for drawing the cars up to the high level are provided and from the high level the cars travel by gravity as shown. down a Continuous decline. On the inbound track, means are provided as at 20 for elevating the cars to the summit from which they return to the starting point by gravity as shown along an undulating or rising and falling track.

Having thus described the best embodiment of my invention now known to me, what I desire to claim and acquire by Letters Patent is:

1. A railway comprising a mono-rail having bearing flanges or faces at its top and at its opposite sides and car-s having flanged or grooved r'oller' contact with said flanges or faces and provided with projections or guards underlying` the bottom of the sides of the rail and also provided upon opposite sides with passenger' seats arranged to fix the center of gravity below the top bearing; flange or face and to fix the position of the passengers in such a way that they can see and converse with each other across the rail, substantially as described.

2. A railway comprisingl a mono-rail having bearing anges or faces at its top and opposite sides said side flanges or faces projecting laterally to afford a wide base, and cars havingr'oller' contact with said flanges or' faces and provided upon opposite sides with passenger' seats ar'- ranged to fix the center' of gravity below the top bearing flange or' face and to fix the position of the passengers in such a way that they can see and converse with each other' across the rail. s

In testimony whereof I have hereunto signed my naine.

MARK sT. CLAIR ELLIS.

Witnesses;

WM. J. JACKSON, FRANK E. FRENCH. 

